TO some, go-karts are little more than a fun day out for the kids, but one former Perth real estate professional sees dollars and cents.
TO some, go-karts are little more than a fun day out for the kids, but one former Perth real estate professional sees dollars and cents.
That’s because Kart World managing director Ric Purvis has big plans for the little racing machines that whizz around his purpose-built Belmont track.
Mr Purvis said his long-term goal was to corporatise the sport of go-karting, make it more accessible to new markets, and establish Kart World as the leading go-kart brand in Australia.
“As a business opportunity, here is something that is really an untapped market,” he said.
“Nobody from Australia has grabbed this industry by the throat and given it a good shake, and I think the first people to do that, hopefully us, will reap some very big rewards.”
To achieve his goals, Mr Purvis is seeking to establish two Kart World tracks in the eastern states, and is attempting to fund the expansion through a $3.5 million capital raising through the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board.
Of that $3.5 million, $750,000 would be spent establishing a new Kart World operation in Sydney, and $2.5 million would be spent buying an existing indoor facility in Melbourne.
Mr Purvis told WA Business News that, once the capital was raised, it would take about three to four months to establish the Sydney operation, while the Melbourne track acquisition would be finalised within 12 months.
Mr Purvis said he recently returned from a US tour of go-karting facilities, where he noted US-based tracks included restaurants and bars, pool tables, and electronic games rooms as part of the facility.
“We’re looking at that US model and we’re saying ‘lets give people more options when they come to the venue, lets give people an experience that they’re going to get a lot of fun out of, they’re going to enjoy and they’re going to come back,’” he said.
Mr Purvis said Kart World was also currently negotiating a cross shareholding deal with US-based go-kart firm K1 Speed’s owner, David Danglard, who operates six tracks in California and Washington.
“They’ll take a piece of us, we’ll take a piece of them and we’ll get some exposure to that $100 million empire that Mr Danglard is currently building,” Mr Purvis said.
“If he works with us down here, and we work with him up there, it makes sense for him to ride into Asia with us, and for us to ride into the US with him.
“The nice part about working with David is we can ride on his experience, knowledge and contacts, and we’ve already been able to buy some equipment at a very reasonable price because he’s already been there and done the hard yards.”
Alongside international expansion plans, Mr Purvis said he was taking steps to open up new market opportunities in Australia.
In an Australian first, next week Kart World will officially launch a hand-controlled go-kart specifically designed for people with limited use of their legs.
The hand-controlled kart was developed by The Dreamfit Foundation’s Darren Lomman, who has previously converted motorcycles for use by people with disabilities.
“If we get enough response to this initiative we may build some more and perhaps one day we could have a hand-controlled kart racing league,” Mr Purvis said.
Also, in another Australian first, Kart World will introduce electric-powered karts at its purpose-built Sydney facility.
Mr Purvis said the electric karts were faster and more powerful than the petrol karts in operation at Kart World Belmont and would open the door to additional market segments.
“The electric karts give us the ability to have a venue that will cater a lot more for females,” he said.
“A lot of women don’t like the fumes, they don’t like the smell and they don’t like the noise, so if we can get something that’s a little bit cleaner and greener that will help us exploit the corporate market.”
